Quote:
Originally Posted by jyl
Robin Williams had a talent, a brilliance, a flame, far greater than most men, almost all men. The proof of that is in his performances, that will live on after we are all dead. My kids are sad, I am sad. He was a great, great man in his field.
His death should be mourned. There is no reason to mock the mourners. Yes, tens of veterans and countless other people commit suicide daily. If one is a great man with talents not seen in a generation, then many will mourn them. If not, then stop pretending that no one is special and all are the same. That simply isn't true. A few men are great, the rest are not.
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What he said. Every life is precious, but some impact more than others. For anyone who argues that he should have just "turned it around" and his death isn't more important to people, then congrats - you're in the "everyone gets a trophy for playing" club.
There are winners and losers in life, there are talented and untalented, and there are those who are fairly even keel and those who are deeply troubled.
Note that RW had 20 years of sobriety (without intervention) before falling off the wagon some years back. That would qualify as "just suck it up." Then he went to rehab and got sober again - again sucking it up. But his demons ran quite deep.
Anyone who has lived with or dealt with truly depressed and/or truly creative people get this. People focus on the material aspects of his life - "he had it all." That is an external perspective, and has little to do with his real internal life. You may be able to turn your internal narrative around, but realize that you've not everyone. Different people have different abilities and capabilities.
Empathy is perhaps the most important trait to be learned. It is what allows us to live just a bit of other's lives, enables true leadership, and it also can help to keep our own world in check. Sadly it is lacking in our world.